For more than a week, restrictions on Starlink and Starshield satellite services have hampered communications and the operation of Ukrainian drones, and the dispute between Kiev, SpaceX and the US administration has shown how dependent military operations are on private technology. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced on October 24 that services have been restored, but who ordered the restrictions remains unclear.
The problems began on October 14. Ukrainian units reported outages and speed restrictions on terminals, which affected drones, reconnaissance missions and communications at the front. According to the Associated Press, the restoration came after more than a week of difficulties that affected the operations of Ukrainian forces.
Musk and Kiev have different versions
Elon Musk said that the Ukrainian military had used the civilian Starlink network for offensive drone attacks and that SpaceX had closed this possibility. “The use of Starlink, a civilian commercial service, for offensive drone attacks has never been authorized and should not be“, he wrote.
Ukrainian military technology adviser Sergei Beskrestnov rejected the claim. He said that restrictions on the operation of the terminals over Russian territory and in occupied areas have long made it physically impossible to use them for long-range offensive strikes. Kiev also said the disruptions affected defense drones and other operations.
The dispute has involved both Starlink and Starshield. Starlink is SpaceX’s commercial satellite internet network, while Starshield is a military service based on the same technological infrastructure and provided through contracts with the US government. It is this division that has further complicated the question of who has the authority to change access and speed of the service.
„Permanent dependence“, not a simple purchase
Augusta University political science professor Lance Hunter told TIME that the case illustrates the difference between buying traditional weapons and using a digital service. With weapons, the buyer usually gains control over the equipment. In satellite communications, access depends on the provider's ongoing decisions.
“This is not just a one-time dependency on the purchase of technology. Now the dependency is permanent“, Hunter said.
According to him, Ukraine has many terminals, but it cannot independently guarantee that it will use them whenever necessary. Hunter described Starlink as a near-monopoly provider in terms of speed, accessibility and flexibility, and pointed out that European countries do not have technology at the same level.
Therefore, rapid diversification of providers does not seem possible. Creating a competitive satellite network requires time, resources and infrastructure, not just buying new terminals.
Washington is also involved
Ukraine's access to services depends not only on SpaceX, but also on decisions in Washington. Democratic U.S. Senator Adam Schiff has asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to testify about the restrictions after various officials gave conflicting accounts of who had the final say.
Despite the restoration of services, the case left open the question of how Ukraine can maintain operational autonomy when a key military communications system is owned by a private company and tied to U.S. government decisions.
Sources: unian.net, time.com, apnews.com